52 Week Challenge - week by week through 2013

[veggiechicken]

My Week 24 Challenge appeared from nowhere - while I was driving west on Friday - Get a dog Old near-blind Rosie has lost her confidence to go for a walk and gets agitated when I leave her home alone to walk Mary. So none of us have been getting enough exercise. The solution (I hope) is a 3rd dog - to babysit Rosie while I walk Mary, and who will be taken for a walk while Mary babysits Rosie. Meanwhile, I walk twice as far!!
So I contacted the sanctuary that Rosie and Mary had come from about 3/4 years ago and asked whether they had a small, placid dog who would like to be a Nanny. When I heard that there was an 8 year old Cavalier being fostered about 3 miles away, it seemed meant to be. So today we met her, she got on well with my two, and she is lying at my feet at this very minute - as are the other 2 dogs.
Say Hello to Lilo Lill (as she was known because she had a fancy for all the boys )

[Hazel at the Hill]

Marvellous, VC - a win, win, win situation! Lovely job!

[veggiechicken]

More like Snore, snore, snore All 3 of them snoring, at different pitches and volumes - and they can't even snore simultaneously What a racket

[veggiechicken]

Week 25 - June 17th - 23rd

Nearly half way through the year - already What are you going to do this week Grapes

[bearded bloke]

Emptying the chips out of my (old) trailer & then "weighing it in" freeing off driveway space for the newer lighter trailer

[Glutton4...]

I'm losing!!!!

Thighs by 2cm, waist by 1cm spare tyre by 3cm and the b**bs by 2.5cm!

WAHAY!!

[veggiechicken]

Well done G4. We expect the same progress this week too

[bearded bloke]

G4,Just remember to stop before becoming a stick insect

[Sheneval]

I am going to update the Family History Website before the AGM on Thursday - it hasn't been done for some time and each alteration has to be repeated 4 times using code so wish me luck

[bramble]

Challenge completed.
This was a tough one.
I cut down and then sawed the cotoneaster hedge that had been growing against the back wall for the last 30 years. Cleaned it up and then painted it white. The garden looks so much brighter.
Reclaimed the border which was hidden by the hedge and have now planted out all my dahlias in the space.
I'm well pleased with the way it turned out.

[Glutton4...]

I rewarded myself with two (small) pieces of chocolate brownie! Just couldn't resist! We have a new livery at the stables, and the rotten (skinny) moo bakes the most fab cakes in the universe (really, they're on a par with Binley's Courgette CAAAAAAAKE!), and brings 'em up for us gannets to scoff!

[Sheneval]

Week 25 - Update Family History Website

Website updated as far as it can be until new season's meeting arrangements are finalised so Week 25 Challenge completed

[Hazel at the Hill]

Week 25 Challenge

Celebrate the Solstice

I could have taken the easy way out of this one and celebrated the winter solstice (= get up to get the sun up at approx 8.15am), but that felt like a bit of a cop out, so the Summer Solstice it was at approx 4.45am instead.

Anyone who knows me will be crying with laughter at this point as I am categorically NOT an early bird - my absolute pet hate is the alarm clock, and I can ALWAYS roll over and go back to sleep, no matter what the hour is.

So getting up really early to see the sunrise on the longest day is a good Challenge for me. I looked up online how one celebrates the Solstice, and apart from going to Stonehenge, or dancing round a maypole, there seems to be a lack of traditions.

So I made some up.

Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn, and in yoga, I know that there is a series of moves called Sun Salutation. So what better than to go to the highest point I know (just above the Hill allotments, 3 miles away) before dawn; and perform a sun salutation as the sun comes up, and drink a toast to the goddess.

Brilliant!

The one problem with this scenario (apart from the obvious loony-alert of parking up in a lane in the middle of the night to do a spot of yoga in the entry to a farmer's field, then swig out of a hip flask) was that the weather forecast was very poor - black clouds and rain followed by mist/fog. Not much chance of seeing the sun come up, then.

My plan B was a compromise which would be to get up in time to get in the car to complete my challenge should the weather be fair, BUT if there was no prospect of being able to see the sun come up due to the weather, to do my observance here at home.

So come the Big Day on Friday, I was up and ready at 4.15am, and looked out into the gloom. It was misty and drizzly. Plan B, therefore, kicked in.

I padded downstairs and took a big towel outside and facing to look due east, and at just about 4.40am I stood and stretched and performed my sun salutation in the rain, then raised a glass of gin & orange in a toast to Aurora. Then I whizzed upstairs to the attic room take photos of the dawn (such that it was) as the sun (apparently) came up at 4.44am.

Well, you ain't getting pics of me doing yoga in the rain, but here's the dawn, such as it was (and the proof of the time!), and my toast.







I felt awake and invigorated for, I think, the first time ever at that time in the mornng! That said, I went back to bed for a couple of hours - and could I get up when the hated alarm went off in the morning?

Could I heck.

But that's my week 25 Challenge: done!

[veggiechicken]

Well done Shen and Hazel! I have to say, that your challenge Hazel, was inspired - a once a year opportunity! Brilliant
I'm ashamed to own up to my pathetic little challenge - but when you have done nothing else.............
Week 25 - I sorted my drawers My Tshirts were such a jumble, each one folded and stuffed in on top of the rest, but you could bet that whichever one I wanted to wear it would be at the bottom of the pile! Pull it out, and all the others would become a crumpled heap. So I took them all out, folded them differently, and put them back in a completely different way. Now I can see exactly what is in each drawer, can take them out individually without disturbing the rest and, as an extra benefit, the contents of 5 drawers have fitted into 4, with space left in each drawer.

[veggiechicken]

Week 26 June 24tth - 30th!!

The Halfway point
At the end of this week, list everything you've done so far and choose a few that have been the most challenging or rewarding - and tell us why